Bambi eBook

The automobile trip lasted four days instead of two,
and he spent them in a fret of impatience. He
worked at the third act, sure of her approval.
On the fifth day she received him. She liked the
idea of the second act—­she would have none
of the new third act. At the end of his enthusiastic
sketch of how it would run, the reading of new scenes,
the telling of new business, she yawned slightly,
and said she didn’t like it at all. Unless
he could get a good third act, she wouldn’t care
for the piece. He assured her this would be a
good third act when it was worked up. No use
working it up. She knew now she would never like
it. Jarvis rose.

“I will submit the new third act to-morrow.
Have you any suggestions you wish to incorporate?”

“Oh, no. If I could write plays, I would
not be acting them. It’s easier and more
lucrative to write.”

“I don’t find it easy enough to be a bore,”
replied Jarvis. “I will be here at eleven
to-morrow.”

“Make it three.”

“Very well, three.”

“Some of the pinches,” he muttered as
he climbed the bus to go back to his hot hall bedroom,
his mind a blank, and only twenty-five hours in which
to work out a new third act.

He stripped for action and worked until midnight.
Then he foraged on Fourth Avenue for food at an all-night
cafe patronized by car-men, chauffeurs, and messenger
boys. He ate ravenously. Afterward he swung
downward to Madison Square Park, to stretch his tired
body. The stars were very bright, but a warm
wind crowded people on to the streets. A restless,
aimless crowd of strollers! Several of them spoke
to Jarvis. Many of them marked him. But
he paid no attention to individuals. His mind
was full of the whole picture. Mile after mile
of narrow streets between blocks of stone and brick
and wood. Thousands of people tramping the miles
like so many animals driven from the jungle by fire
or flood. This men called civilization—­this
City of Stone Blocks! How far was it from the
jungle? Hunger, thirst, lust, jealousy, anger,
courage, and cowardice—­these were the passions
of both fastnesses. How far was Man from his
blood brother, the Wolf?

He reached the green square, and started to cross
it. On every bench, crowded together, huddled
the sleepers. He walked slowly, and looked at
them closely. Most of them were old—­old
men and old women—­warped out of all semblance
to human beings, their hideous faces and crooked bodies
more awful in the abandon of sleep. Some young
ones there were, too: a thin boy with a cough;
a tired girl of the streets, snatching a moment of
sleep before she went about her trade. It was
like some fantastic dream.